It is a very common practice found employed in the construction of buldings to provide a sump hole in the floor of the basement thereof. This sump hole functions as a collection point for water which enters the basement in the form of leaks through the foundation of the building, or which accumulates in the basement from any other source. Once water has collected in the sump hole there are a variety of ways by which it can be removed therefrom. For example, where only a small amount of water needs to be removed from the sump hole, this can be accomplished simply by permitting the water to drain from the sump hole into the soil under the building with which the sump hole is in communication. In other instances, the sump hole has connected thereto some form of conduit means which is connected in fluid circuit relation with an external drainage system whereby as water collects in the sump hole, when it reaches the level of the aforesaid conduit means, it flows therethrough to the exterior of the building from whence it is fed into some type of drainage system provided for this purpose externally of the building.
More commonly, however, the water which collects in the sump hole is withdrawn therefrom through the use of some type of sump pump. Sump pumps may be classified according to the means by which they are powered, namely, those which are electrically operated and those which are powered by some other form of prime mover such as a gasoline engine, etc. In addition, sump pumps may be categorized according to the manner in which the operation thereof is initiated. For example, it is known to provide sump pumps wherein the operation thereof is automatically initiated upon the occurrence of some condition, while there are other sump pumps which require a manual act to be performed such as throwing a switch, or starting a gasoline engine, etc. for purposes of initiating the operation thereof. Finally, there are sump pumps which are intended to be permanently installed in a sump hole thereby to be ever ready for use, while there are those which are designed to be stored elsewhere and then positioned in the sump hole as the need therefor arises.
Notwithstanding the fact that there have been provided heretofore a multiplicity of different forms of sump pumps each operable for purposes of draining water from a sump hole, a need has nevertheless existed to provide a sump pump which will be automatic in its operation in times of emergency. Namely, a specific need has been evidenced to provide a sump drainer which would be capable of functioning under conditions existing in situations such as that which was actually experienced during recent months as described hereinafter. More particularly, this past winter one section of the country was hit by a severe ice storm which caused a number of trees to fall as well as limbs thereof to break because of the added weight applied thereto by the ice. As the limbs broke and/or the trees fell, in many instances they carried with them power lines. Moreover, no sooner was power restored then another limb broke or a tree fell once again knocking out power in that same area. Consequently, the effect thereof was to cause a number of communities in this particular section of the country to be without power for prolonged periods which resulted in large numbers of people being forced to evacuate their homes. At the same time, this section of the country experienced a spell of extreme cold weather. The combination of no power and the cold caused the temperature in many residences as well as commercial buildings to fall below freezing. As a result, many people experienced burst water pipes which led to flooding and severe damage being done to washers, dryers, electric furnaces, etc., located in the basements of these buildings. Electric sump pumps which normally would have been employed in order to drain the water from the flooded basements were inoperable because no electricity was available to power them. On the other hand, for those who possessed sump pumps which employed as a power source some means other than electricity, the problem was that these sump pumps most often had to be manually started. However, in many instances the extreme cold which caused the pipes to burst had also caused the residents of the dwellings to evacuate their homes. Therefore, no one was present to manually start the sump pumps when the need therefor arose. It thus became readily apparent that there was a need for a sump drainer which possessed the capability of permitting the operation thereof to be automatically initiated when the need thereof arose and which employed as a power source some means other than electricity.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved sump drainer which is operable to drain water which has collected in a sump hole provided in the basement floor of a building therefrom.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a sump drainer wherein the operation thereof is capable of being automatically initiated upon the occurrence of some predetermined condition.
A further object of the present invention is to provide such a sump drainer which employs water as a power source and therefore remains operable during periods of electrical power outages.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide such a sump drainer which is readily compatible with the existing equipment to be found in present buildings, be the latter in the nature of a residential building or a commercial building, thereby enabling the sump drainer of the present invention to be installed therein without necessitating either extensive modification of existing equipment or the addition of new equipment.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide such a sump drainer which is capable of being easily installed in a building by the average person.
Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide such a sump drainer which is characterized by the fact that it embodies components which are presently commercially available.